Yesterday, my family and I were making our way to the grocery store, and as we were waiting in a line of slow-moving cars in the parking lot, we heard a tap on the glass! It was my wife’s cousin! It was such a surprise! We hadn’t seen each other in months, so we pulled off into a parking spot to quickly say hi and catch up. As we began to talk with her, she told us what she was doing out: she was still Christmas shopping! My wife, being the kind of person who is very proactive, would find it very stressful to still be shopping with only two days until Christmas. But, that was her plan for the day: to shop until she dropped! Of course, this made me think about the reason for Christmas, and why we do the things we do this time of year. 

I have no problem with buying presents for others or being given gifts, but I do struggle with the cultural appropriation of this day and season as if it can offer us anything that is even remotely close to what is genuinely satisfying or truly amazing. What is this day meant to be? What should we focus on as Christians? What should we set our hearts on during this time? We should focus on the eternal Son of God, his incarnation, the beauty of that reality, his self-sacrifice in obedience to the Father, and the great salvation he has procured for his people!

The Word Became Flesh

Westminster Larger Catechism:

Q. 37. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?

A. Christ the Son of God became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance, and born of her, yet without sin.

In the first chapter of John’s Gospel, he writes that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (v. 14). We stand in awe when we read this (or we ought to), because we are told that the eternal Son of God took on human flesh, and chose to live in the midst of his people. Jesus dwells among his people in his earthly sojournings, just as when God resided in the midst of his people in the Old Testament (Exodus 40:34-35), bringing his presence very near to those he had chosen to covenant with. But, Jesus was not behind a veil. He was in a body; he was touched and spoken to directly. Jesus was not merely said to be in the midst of his people, nor was it said that he had simply become a human. No, rather John 1:14 says he took on “flesh.” He became like the despicable and sin-soaked flesh of humanity. 

Coming in the flesh is altogether different than if Jesus had simply become a man. In the scriptures, “flesh” is often used to display the disdainful nature of man. It shows the scorn the Lord has for sin and sinners. At his incarnation, Jesus takes this scorn and disdain upon himself. He carries contempt and the burden of his people from the very moment of his birth, which is rightly deserved by the wicked sinners he has sought to save! By taking on human flesh and becoming a man, with all its miseries, yet without a hint of sin, Jesus bridged the gap between God and man, closing the chasm that separated us from God. 

The Necessity of Flesh

Heidelberg Catechism:

Q15 What sort of a mediator and deliverer then must we seek for?

A15 For one who is very man, and perfectly righteous; and yet more powerful than all creatures; that is, one who is also very God

Q16 Why must he be very man, and also perfectly righteous?

A16 Because the justice of God requires that the same human nature which has sinned, should likewise make satisfaction for sin; and one, who is himself a sinner, cannot satisfy for others.

Q17 Why must he in one person be also very God?

A17 That he might, by the power of his Godhead sustain in his human nature, the burden of God’s wrath; and might obtain for, and restore to us, righteousness and life.

Looking to Christ, we see the glory and radiance of the Father. We see the exact imprint of God as we look at the face of Jesus, and this is a face of compassion, of counsel, of love, and longsuffering. This is the face that seeks to save those that are his and yet lost. This is the dazzling face of our transcendent God who takes upon himself the sinfulness of his elect people. We can often wonder if there wouldn’t have been a better way for the atonement of our sins. We may think that God surely could have or should have chosen a different way. But this question often denies the justice, wrath, and righteousness of God that must be satisfied. 

God truly has wrath stored up because of sin, and it cannot simply be dissipated. It cannot be dispelled or purely dissolved. It must be poured out. It must be satisfied! Without the incarnation of Christ, without his worldly birth into the flesh as a human, you and I would still be dead in our sins. We would still maintain the guilt and burden and penalty of our sin. This is because the wrath of God had to be poured out upon the same nature that was guilty of sin. Although Christ never sinned, he took on the nature of sinful flesh, and therefore could rightly bear the burden of our sins. The birth of Christ in the flesh is the only way that our sins could have been atoned for really and truly, and thereby satisfy the wrath of God. 

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:12

Christ bore our sin in his flesh, and by doing this he took our guilt. Yet, because he is God he was able to obtain for us righteousness and life in the Spirit! Jesus never sinned, he never compromised during temptation, rather he possessed the broken and contrite heart that God so loves and desires, and he entrusted himself in perfect obedience to the Father.

What We Celebrate on Christmas

On Christmas, we partake in many cultural practices and customs. We put up the trees, place the ornaments, buy the presents, bake the cookies, hang the stockings, and much more. While these are wonderful and love-filled events, let them never overshadow what is truly meant to be celebrated in this season. We are here to celebrate foremost of all that God condescended down to us. He stooped low, emptying himself and taking the form of a servant, to become a human being in the flesh, ultimately to die for us. The God-Man, Jesus Christ, lived a life of sinless perfection, in absolute obedience to the law of God. Because he was born in the flesh, he was able to take upon himself the wrath that you and I, as humans, deserve, yet as God he was able to withstand that wrath and grant to us eternal life, and peace with God! 

We have a far greater reason to celebrate this season than simple gifts and cookies. We have a Savior who was born, and this birth allowed him to take away the sins of the world! Do not rejoice in your earthly gifts, or the food, or seasonal atmosphere. Rather, rejoice in the Christ who became flesh and dwelled among us, and behold his glory, the glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth! Rejoice in him as the greatest gift that could ever be given and received, which began as a babbling baby laying in a manger, and know that in that little baby was salvation for the world! 

“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God...For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” -Hebrews 10:12,14